


Cousin or crook

by mieexx



Category: GOT7
Genre: Crimes & Criminals, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-07-27 02:13:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7599391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mieexx/pseuds/mieexx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark and Jackson are college student roommates. One morning Jackson finds a peculiar character in their kitchen and tries to figure out who he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

The ceiling fan. Birds outside, flying in big circles. Someone dropping a book ten feet away. Anything was more interesting than his paper on how language influenced behaviour in people. It was due Monday so he had to make a move on. But half a page deserved a break of an hour, it was a shame the paper had to consist of ten pages.

Jackson decided to give up and hope he would find motivation and inspiration in the hour before the deadline. Liberal Arts was about the art of combining bullshitting and knowledge in such a way that you could trick the university into giving you a diploma, anyway. He packed up his stuff and left the library as quietly as he had sat there.

 

On his way home he picked up some things for dinner, it was his turn to cook. He cooked on even days, Mark, his roommate, on uneven days. Jackson soon found the vegetables needed for the dish he prepared that night. He also picked up a box of his beloved organic green tea, something he couldn’t start the day without. Jackson had his own shelf dedicated to the things he needed to make the perfect cup of tea with which he treated his body like a temple.

After he told the cashier the highlights of his day, he was off to the subway.

Naebang station was crowded as ever, Jackson was used to it by now. He’d only have to climb up the steep hill to his apartment and then some stairs and cough up his lungs at the doorstep. The usual when it was this hot and humid in summer.

‘’I’m home!’’ Jackson half-shouted as he took his shoes off.

‘’I’m in the kitchen!’’ Mark’s familiar voice responded.

Jackson found him sitting at the kitchen table, writing out his notes in a more legible handwriting than they were originally written in. He glanced over Mark’s shoulder to read what his classes were about today. As Mark studied Vocal Performance Jackson could figure out the gist of it.

‘’What are we having?’’ The older boy asked without looking up from his notes.

‘’Fried rice, you need to eat more vegetables, hyung.’’ Jackson said as he poured rice into the rice cooker and turned it on.

‘’Hey I’m a male student in my twenties, this is the only time in my life where I can eat a lot of junkfood without suffering from any consequences.’’ Mark reasoned, his eyes still glued onto the paper.

‘’You will suffer the consequences when you’re older. I’m here to minimize the damages.’’ Jackson remarked as he cut up different kinds of vegetables. This friendly bickering on a normal, calm tone continued as they went on with their tasks.

Their apartment was nothing special, just enough for two students on a low budget. Two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom was what they came home to everyday. The furniture was nothing special as they spent most of their money on their laptops which they needed for school. Houseplants showed they were having a hard time and everything that wasn’t immediately used or walked on, had a decent layer of dust. The couch showed the preferred seating positions of the boys and laundry was only done on special occasions.

Jackson and Mark had met on an event, organised by the university they both attended, to meet people who were looking for roommates.

Jackson liked how Mark was able to take in all of his crazy conversations without getting sick of it. Mark liked how Jackson could keep up the conversation so that he only had to listen. They were each other’s Yin and Yang in conversations as well as household tasks, the boys divided them up with relative ease. The two of them had a lot in common, both studied at Seoul university, had interest in sports and didn’t have their relatives close by.

After dinner they went out.

Out of the kitchen to their respective sofa creases to spend their entire evening on their laptops doing things for school or aimlessly browsing the internet. The only interaction between them would occur when one of them got up to get something from the kitchen and asked whether the other wanted something. At 12.30 they called it a day and went to sleep.

 

 

* * *

 

‘’No.’’ Was the first thing that popped into Jackson’s head as soon as he opened his eyes. ‘’If I close my eyes again, I can finish that sweet, sweet dream and I won’t have to think about my paper.’’ But it wouldn’t come back and he was forced to go through the process of waking up and starting up his day.

After scouring the floor for decent clothes to wear on a Saturday, sweatpants, a tanktop and socks, he slouched to the kitchen. There he smelled the thing that would motivate him to move on from his vegetative state.

His cherished organic green tea.

‘’What happened to Mark that he would dare t-‘’ Jackson quickened his pace to the kitchen, only to find a completely different scenario than he had imagined.

A tall, broadly build man with dark hair that reached just above his small, peering eyes sat in one of the kitchen chairs with his back to the wall, facing Jackson in the doorway. Jackson’s eyes moved from the man’s strong jawline to his black clothing, following his long sleeves to the thing that caught Jackson’s attention in the first place. A cup of organic green tea stood on the table, the man held it in a nonchalant way.

Come to think of it, everything about him was nonchalant, his posture was laid-back and his face did not incline any surprise about Jackson’s presence. It seemed more like he was sizing up Jackson, making judgments and calculations about him with his scanning gaze.

 

‘’For someone studying Vocal Performance you’d think he’d be able to use those vocal cords to tell you when his relatives would come over.’’ Jackson thought. ‘’The most sensible thing to do would be to just talk to him until Mark comes back.’’

‘’Hi, uhm.. Who are you?’’ Jackson asked, a bit dazed.

‘’JB, here to steal your shit.’’ The man responded with a smirk, bringing the cup to his lips.

‘’Haha, very funny, but seriously. Who are you?’’ Jackson said sarcastically.

‘’Well my name really is JB, but if you insist, I’m your roommate’s cousin.’’ JB calmly explained. ‘’And you really shouldn’t talk that casually to me, I believe I’m older than you.’’ No smirk this time.

The novelty of the situation had worn off and Jackson started to look around. As his eyes scanned the room he came across his worst nightmare. His organic green tea-making set DEFILED! The packet was strewn on the counter, the teapot wasn’t put in its tea cosy and various items were left unused which meant that the very cup JB was holding contained wasted, disgusting organic green tea.

‘’What have you done to my tea set!’’ Jackson shouted, adjusting his speech just in time to make it more formal.

‘’Relax princess, I heard this stuff’s good for you and I don’t know how to use all that crap.’’ JB twiddled the cup between his fingers, looking amused at Jackson’s annoyance.

‘’My name is not princess, it’s Jackson. Here, let me make you a good cup.’’ Jackson muttered, slightly embarrassed.

He took the cup and threw away the tea. He proceeded to get another cup for himself and started his morning ritual. He boiled water to exactly 97.77 Celsius and poured it into his teapot (in its tea cosy this time). He left the organic green tea to steep exactly 4 minutes before taking out every little leaf and pouring the cups full.

The whole time Jackson put his undivided attention into the organic green tea, JB watched him with enjoyment. He presented the older boy his cup of tea and sat down in front of him.

‘’Impressive.’’ JB stated. He took a sip, obviously not expecting a difference, and found himself unable to show the surprise he felt when the organic green tea tasted a lot sweeter.

‘’It does more for your body when you do it right. So, are you one of Mark’s cousins or something?’’ Jackson began.

‘’Yeah, I’m Mark’s cousin, his mother was worried so she asked me to check up on him.’’ JB answered coolly.

‘’So are you from America or Taiwan? I can speak both Mandarin and English, whichever you prefer.’’ Making the guest comfortable was priority number one for Jackson, but at the mention of English, JB didn’t look that at ease anymore.

‘’Uh no, I’m a different branch of the family, I can only speak Korean.’’ JB responded.

‘’Okay, so then do you study here?’’ This guy wasn’t quite the talker so Jackson kept firing questions at him to keep the conversation going.

‘’I found that the education system wasn’t for me, too much pressure, so now I’m doing my own thing.’’ This was the quickest answer JB gave to any question so far.

But then Jackson realised two things: 1) Mark would’ve told him if he had close family living in Seoul 2) JB is way too calm and collected to be a cousin, he should’ve introduced himself from the get-go. If he weren’t a relative, the second option would be that he was a friend of Mark’s, but that wasn’t possible either as the both of them knew each other’s friends. A third, and kind of far-fetched, option would be that JB was a burglar. But wouldn’t a burglar already have grabbed what he needed and left? Why would he stay for a cup of organic green tea? So who was this guy? Cousin or crook?

As this thought process went on in Jackson’s head, JB watched him and knew fully well what gears were grinding in the blonde boy’s head. JB got up, very slowly, and walked towards the living room.

‘’Hey-‘’ Jackson began at the exact moment a key turned in the lock of the front door.

Mark had come home.

 

Then everything happened incredibly fast. Jackson got up from his seat in a flash.

JB made for the two laptops and a bag sitting on the coffee table in the living room, bolts towards the front door and speeds past Mark as soon as he opened the door.

Jackson’s doubts had been confirmed, but no time to think about that now, and he ran after JB. A confused Mark watched as the scene entailed in front of him.

By the time Jackson made it into the hallway, JB had apparently already put the laptops into the backpack as he saw him run with the backpack on his back.

Jackson followed him down the staircase shouting ‘’Hey’’ and ‘’Come back!’’ to JB as if he would listen. For one second Jackson thought he might’ve gotten through to him as JB stopped, lifted his head up, locked eyes with Jackson and gave him a full smile. JB’s nose crinkled, teeth gleamed and eyes gave a mischievous impression that made Jackson stop in his tracks as well. JB used this to proceed down the stairs, Jackson quickly snapping out of it and went after him.

 

Outside the building, Jackson had to pick up his speed to keep up with JB, this guy had done this before. After a couple hundred meters JB disappeared into an alley. 

Jackson turns into the same alley and, thinking about how he would have to re-do his half-a-page-paper, suddenly found the energy to double his speed. Jackson reaches his hand out to the older boy’s black hair and just grazing it, grabs him by the collar and forces him against the brick wall of the alley.

Panting, Jackson mustered the strength to utter: ‘’What the fuck dude?! First my tea and now you steal our laptops? They’re all we have, all our work is on those things. Can’t we make a deal or something?’’

JB’s hands shot up and took Jackson by his shoulder, turned him around and slammed him into the brick wall behind him.

Inches away from his face, there was that stupid smirk again. JB held a tight grip on his shoulder, which hurt a little now, and kept his other hand near the blonde’s face.

‘’Well I told you I was gonna steal your shit but you didn’t believe me.’’ JB remarked.

JB swiftly planted a kiss on Jackson’s cheek and smiled his radiant smile from before.

‘’Thanks for the tea, princess.’’

JB ran for it again, but this time Jackson didn’t go after him. He stood there against the wall, stunned, frustrated and feeling stupid like never before.


	2. Two

Jackson walked back to the apartment, still feeling stunned. He replayed the events over in his head, thinking how he could’ve missed the obvious signs and how they lost their most prized possessions.

Halfway down the hallway, Jackson noticed something laying on the ground. He picked it up to find that it was a notebook, a plain black one. He opened it and read two letters on the first page ‘’JB’’.

‘’This must be his notebook.’’ Jackson thought. ‘’He doesn’t even reveal his name in his own notebook? What’s this guy’s deal?’’ He flipped to the next page and saw a couple of polaroids. The subjects of the polaroids were nothing special, mostly street photography of everyday things. But the way the lighting was used and how the camera was positioned, they turned into pieces of art. Jackson felt touched at how beautiful the things he passed by everyday could be, and how someone like JB could see that in these things.

He flipped a couple pages further and saw a page filled with black lettering. Jackson quickly realised that these were JB’s personal notes and closed the book.

‘’What just happened?’’ Mark asked, standing in the exact same position Jackson had left him when he was chasing JB.

‘’The guy who just ran out of apartment told me he was a cousin of yours and then he stole our laptops.’’ Jackson explained, lowering his head in guilt.

‘’WHAT?! I can’t believe this, don’t you think I would’ve told you? Or that I would be with my guest? Now what are we going to do?’’ Mark looked at him with disbelief.

‘’I know, I’m sorry. It’s my mistake, I’m going to fix it.’’ Jackson promised, although he had no idea how. But he had a feeling the thief would want his notebook back.

He couldn’t hide it in his house, that would be too obvious and easy to steal back. Jackson walked to the nearest metro station, holding the notebook close to him. There, he rented a locker, put the notebook in and took the key. At home, he put the key under one of the houseplants.

* * *

 

-Drip, drip, drip-

Jackson anxiously watched the water container from across him in the waiting room. He couldn’t just keep his mind on one thing at a time, his leg bouncing up and down in time with the speed of his thoughts. He just explained the whole situation to the police officer, finding JB in his kitchen, the stealing of the laptops and how he chased him down the alleyway. He did conveniently leave out the kiss, he thought that that wasn’t as important a detail to mention.

Jackson felt guilty having let JB escape in his dazed state, so he went to the police office alone to try and get the laptops back.

The door went open and out came a middle aged man, he was on the shorter side and his face showed immense tiredness. This was the police officer Jackson had been talking to.  

‘’Okay kid, we’ve got the IP addresses and we’re doing our best but tracking a man down known as ‘’JB’’ whom you described to have ‘’evil eyes’’ and ‘’very nice arms for a villain’’ isn’t going to narrow it down for us. We will keep you updated as soon as we know more.’’ The man explained, more to the paper in front of him than to Jackson.

Jackson felt his heart grow heavy as he watched countless hours of schoolwork wash away before his eyes. Deadlines were coming up before finals so he really hadn’t had the chance to make a back-up of everything. 

* * *

 

10 minutes later, he found himself back on the front step of the police bureau, just like he had been 2,5 hours before.

Jackson walked towards the subway station, his eyes on the items in display in the shops. They looked worthless to have now he knew how easy it was to steal them.

Then his eyes glanced over the window of a small pawnshop. Normally this wouldn’t phase him but when he focused more, he saw something familiar. He had seen those broad shoulders before. Without thinking much, Jackson opened the door and kept his eyes on those shoulders, making sure they weren’t going anywhere. He slowly walked up from behind, holding out his hand. He grabbed the tall man’s left shoulder and pulled it sideways. JB’s face revealed, once again, very little surprise to meet people in an unusual manner.

Jackson glanced down and saw one silver and three golden watches laying on the counter.

‘’Princess, didn’t think I’d have the pleasure of meeting you again so quickly.’’ JB calmly spoke. Jackson watched him in disbelief.

‘’These watches are stolen too, aren’t they?’’ Jackson said as he looked him in the eyes, not losing his grip on JB’s shoulder. His cheeks burned as he heard that nickname again.

‘’Well, what can I say, I’m very good with my hands.’’ JB answered with ease. He seemed to be out to make Jackson uncomfortable.

‘’Have you sold our laptops here too?’’ Jackson saw hope that they might still be here.

‘’I’ve got to pay rent somehow, don’t I?’’ He shrugged Jackson’s hand off.

‘’Ahjussi, do you still have two laptops this thief brought in this morning.’’ Jackson near shouted at the man behind the counter, making his eyes as puppy-like as possible to convince the man of his point. He could hear JB scoff behind him. This wasn’t a good strategy as the man panicked, uttered a ‘’Laptops have all been sold out!’’ and ran into the back of the shop.

‘’Please you’ve got to help me, you can have my laptop after finals but I really can’t fail my classes, I don’t have money to do this year over.’’ Jackson pleaded, but the man didn’t come back.

‘’Let’s get out here, I’m pretty sure the shopkeeper is calling the cops now.’’ JB grabbed Jackson’s left wrist and dragged him out of the shop, sprinting with him along the street. Jackson kept his legs repeating the same motion as he watched the back of JB’s head, whose hair bounced as they ran. They turned the corner and stopped near a staircase that led to an apartment building. JB sat down on the staircase.

‘’What was that for! First I have to run after you and now you’re pulling me along with you? I need to find the buyer of those laptops!’’ Jackson panted.

‘’No use, that guy buys and sells, no questions asked. He wouldn’t know who bought your laptops. If you go back now, we’ll both be in big trouble.’’ JB explained, leaning back and putting his elbows on the step behind him.

‘’Well then I hope you quickly find a way to get those laptops back.’’ Jackson said.

‘’Why would I?’’ JB replied, raising one eyebrow.

‘’Because I’ve got a notebook that I’m pretty sure is yours.’’ Jackson bit back. JB’s eyes turned twice as big, the first emotion Jackson ever read from JB’s face.

‘’How did you-‘’ JB began, he stood up, getting closer to Jackson.

‘’You dropped it as you ran off. When we get the laptops back, you get your notebook back. You can stay at my place until then, I need to keep my eye on you.’’ Jackson cut in, his face showing his determination.

‘’What! I’m not going to stay with you!’’ JB shouted.

‘’It’s either that or you’re not going to get your notebook back. I don’t trust you, you might run off and then I’ll never get the laptops back.’’ Jackson said, looking JB directly in the eyes.

‘’Fine.’’ He huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Jackson started walking towards the metro station, JB followed in complete silence.

‘’Those photos must be really important to him if he is this easily persuaded.’’ Jackson thought as he looked at JB during the ride home. JB’s jaw had stiffened, his body language showing how displeased he was with the entire situation. The whole ride home was awkward, them sitting in silence. 

* * *

 

At home, Jackson made two cups of organic green tea for the both of them and walked into the living room. There, he found JB looking under the couch cushion, undoubtedly for his notebook.

‘’You won’t find it there, I’m not an idiot. I’ve hidden it outside of the house.’’ Jackson put JB’s cup on the coffee table without so much as glancing at him. JB gave up, plumped on the couch and took his cup in both hands. Jackson watched him drink his tea and felt kind of bad for the guy, having to steal to earn his living.

‘’You know, those pictures in your notebook were really good. I think you could go professional.’’ Jackson said in a careful tone, not sure how to go about this.

‘’You looked inside my notebook! You had no right!’’ JB shouted, looking very embarrassed.

‘’You had no right to come in my kitchen and drink my organic green tea the other day, either. So I think we’re even.’’ Jackson remarked. JB took another sip of his tea, begrudgingly.

‘’Did- did you read anything in the notebook?’’ JB asked cautiously.

‘’No I didn’t, you deserve some privacy.’’ Jackson said. ‘’I only saw the polaroids on the first page, but I’m telling you, you should study photography!’’

‘’I already told you, the education system isn’t for me. I was mainly doing it for someone else and it’s a waste of money.’’ JB replied, leaning back on the couch in a defeated kind of way. Jackson wanted to ask further, he knew there was more to this story than it showed at face-value.

At that moment, a key turned in the lock of the front door. Mark had come home. This snapped Jackson awake, he had forgotten to tell Mark of his plan.

Mark took his shoes off and looked up into the living room, his eyes shifted from Jackson to JB, who gave him an awkward smile and a nod.

‘’What is this criminal doing in our living room!’’ Mark shouted, grabbing his phone to call the police. Jackson jumped over the couch and took Mark’s phone from him.

‘’Mark, Mark, please wait. I’ve got a plan. I’ve got something he wants back so he is going to get our laptops back for us. He is only here so I can keep an eye on him.’’ Jackson explained, holding Mark’s hands so he couldn’t hit Jackson.

‘’You have let a felon into our home, doesn’t that technically make us an accessory to the crime? A crime against us?’’ Mark looked from Jackson to JB and back to make sure his eyes weren’t fooling him.

‘’If he gets our laptops back then the crime wouldn’t have taken place. We can drop the charges and forget about the whole thing.’’ Jackson said reassuringly, using his puppy eyes for the second time that day.

Mark took a moment to think and finally said: ‘’Just know that I won’t feed him, he is your responsibility.’’ Jackson smiled a big smile to Mark.

‘’Will do!’’ Was all he said as he headed back to the kitchen to make dinner. Mark sat on the couch on the other side of JB, looking at him as if he was an abstract piece of art. Jackson quickly threw some things together and took it to the living room, as there weren’t enough chairs in the kitchen. JB kept glancing left and right, looking very uncomfortable. JB and Mark ate in silence while Jackson tried to get a conversation going.

‘’Mark-hyung, what did you do today?’’ Jackson tried.

‘’Just went to the library to use the computers there because I couldn’t use my own.’’ Mark calmly said, directing his words to Jackson. JB wisely kept his attention on his food.

‘’The library is nice, it is quiet there. And you know Mina, the librarian? Did you say hi to her for me? She’s got two cats and she lend me her favourite books.‘’ Jackson said. ‘’Although she did say that I’m too loud.’’ He added under his breath. This made JB and Mark laugh. 

* * *

 

The three of them took turns to use the bathroom to wash up, JB being the last to go in. While he was in the shower, Jackson made a bed for him on the couch, stuffing a duvet cover with clothes to make a blanket.

‘’Tadaa!’’ Jackson shouted with pride as he showed JB his bed. Seeing the unadulterated happiness at his creation, JB smiled. It started to feel more like a sleepover than a deal.

‘’Thanks.’’ JB grinned and sat on the bed.

‘’You know, I hope we can be friends or something after this is over. I don’t hate you for trying to survive.’’ Jackson said consolingly. This took JB by surprise.

‘’Uhh… th-thanks.’’ He stuttered.

‘’Okay, well I’ll leave you to it then. Have sweet dreams, see you tomorrow.’’ Jackson said. He turned off the lights and went to his room. He jumped onto the bed and fell asleep immediately in exhaustion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you liked this chapter! Next chapter I hope to do more Jackson/JB bonding :D


	3. Three

Jackson woke early that morning, his excitement about the whole ordeal getting the better of him. He walked over to the kitchen, stopping a moment in the living room to watch JB asleep. JB laid on his side, his hands up in front of his face, taking slow, deep breaths. He looked peaceful like that, as if his cares couldn’t touch him, wherever he was.

Jackson tip-toed to the kitchen, preparing two cups of organic green tea in absolute silence.  
Indulged in his routine, he didn’t notice JB standing in the doorway, watching Jackson make the tea once again.

‘’Morning, princess.’’ JB said casually. This made Jackson jump, nearly dropping the pot of scorching hot tea.

‘’Don’t do that again!’’ Jackson said as he turned to fill the two cups.

‘’No commentary on the nickname, this is progress.’’ JB said with a smirk. He took the ear of the cup between his thumb and index finger, taking a moment to appreciate the work that went into the preparation.  
Jackson sat in front of him, trying to catch his eye. He was excited to start this day.

‘’So I’ve been thinking,’’ JB started, not removing his eyes from the cup. ‘’At my apartment I have my laptop on which I installed a certain program. If you’ve still got the IP addresses, I can track them from my laptop.’’

‘’Do you think we can get by the laptops easily? Would we have to buy them back?’’ Jackson inquired, his eyes turning bigger with each question.

‘’With what money? Besides, I don’t think the current owner would want to give them up so easily.’’ JB stated.

‘’Are you suggesting we steal them?’’ Jackson gasped, he was in for an adventure, but a felony would be something else.

‘’I don’t think the current owner would want to just give them back. I mean, they bought them for a reason.’’ JB calmly reasoned. He had a point, walking up to their doorstep, ringing the doorbell and politely asking for the laptops would be a bit ridiculous. Not to mention how strange it’d be trying to explain how they got their address.  
Jackson’s desperation to pass this year was greater than his fear for the police, so he agreed to JB’s plan.

Jackson packed a bag full of dark clothes, took the key from under the houseplant and off they were to JB’s apartment. Jackson followed JB’s lead, they didn’t talk much. With every minute they walked, the neighbourhood got grimier and felt less safe. Jackson stayed close to JB, who strolled along as if he took a walk in the park, unfazed to the potential dangers around them. From the left a huge bang was heard, like someone dropped a big iron cylinder onto concrete. Jackson leaped forward and grabbed JB’s arm for safety, a small cry escaping him. JB looked down at him, smiling a little at how adorable Jackson looked when scared. He didn’t shake the blonde boy’s arm off as they had arrived at their destination. JB took this opportunity to take Jackson’s arm and steer him to the right, into a staircase.

‘’Home sweet home.’’ JB mumbled sarcastically, taking out his key to unlock the front door of his first-floor apartment. The overall look of the building wasn’t a good one, the paint was chipped, not all windowsills had glass panes in them and some apartments were boarded up. Jackson could hear a man and a woman shouting from two floors away.  
JB opened the door, stepped in and turned on the lights, Jackson followed suit. The interior of the apartment wasn’t any better than the exterior.  
Jackson always thought that Mark and his’ apartment was a bit shabby, but a livable. Their apartment was a perfect reflection of what student life was like; cheap, the bare minimum, but would do the job just fine.  
JB’s apartment was the reflection of what criminal life without a degree was like; a room with no chairs, no table and a bed made out of a mattress with a single pillow and a blanket. The kitchen, living room and bedroom were one room, with the bathroom connecting to it. The kitchen was relatively clean, as JB didn’t own any dishes apart from one bowl, one plate, one pair of chopsticks and one glass.

‘’Get comfortable,’’ JB told Jackson, gesturing with his hand for him to sit somewhere. ‘’for as far as that’s possible.’’ He mumbled. Jackson took a seat on the floor in the middle of the room, crossing his legs and waiting for JB to return. He could not believe in what kind of dump this boy lived, this wasn’t humane! Jackson pitied JB and started thinking about a way to help him, he wasn’t so bad. Though Jackson’s reasons to help JB weren’t entirely selfless, he remembered the kiss on the cheek very vividly, and he secretly wanted to see if that could lead anywhere.  
JB entered the room and stopped Jackson’s train of thought. He was holding a huge laptop, the size of a suitcase.

‘’This has all the necessary equipment to track down your laptops.’’ JB stated, not batting an eyelash at the monstrosity that was his laptop. ‘’But we’ll have to go to a nearby café to use their internet.’’ Jackson thought he was joking, to take that thing into public?!

Next minute, they found themselves in the nearest café. Jackson wouldn’t have dreamed that this kind of establishment would be in this neighbourhood. A cat café.  
Cats were everywhere, crawling under the tables, jumping on chairs and people. One cat was especially fond of JB, meowing and rubbing her head on his arms. JB kept a stoic look on his face and his eyes on the screen, as if to pretend that the foam on their drinks wasn’t shaped like cats. He did however stroke the cat with his left hand whenever he couldn’t figure out why something wouldn’t work on his computer, as if to find reassurance from the cat. Jackson watched all of this, sipping his drink and talking to a cat, he had to wait for JB to finish anyway.

‘’Okay,’’ JB finally said. ‘’I’ve got the address and I’ve looked up the plan of the house. Luckily it’s not in a very rich neighbourhood, it’s just an apartment, so there won’t be any security or cameras.’’ Jackson listened intently, if only he could memorise words as accurately for a test as he did now. JB wrote down the directions to the apartment complex, what number and floor the apartment was on and downloaded a floor plan from a real estate agency that was selling an apartment in the same complex.  
The skill and efficiency with which JB planned the whole thing, both assured and scared Jackson. He knew he’d be in safe hands, but this was still illegal.

‘’Let’s go back to the apartment and change.’’ JB closed his laptop. He chugged his drink, ruffled the cat’s head with his two hands and grabbed his laptop to leave. Jackson had to repress a chuckle, he wished he had a camera to film this.

* * *

 

Back at the apartment, they had to change. As the bathroom was too small to move around in, they changed in the main room. JB had no problem stripping in front of Jackson. Jackson, however, hesitated a little and couldn’t help but blush when he saw the older boy take of his shirt. His defined muscles moved when he bent over to grab his black shirt and Jackson couldn’t help but stare. JB noticed but decided to allow him a little pleasure by not saying anything. Jackson quickly snapped out of it and changed into his attire, all black to blend into the night. When they were done they sat back on the floor, waiting for nightfall.  
JB was reading a book to kill time, Jackson kept churning over the plan and what to do afterwards. He decided to address the issue that bothered him the most.

‘’Hey JB,’’ Jackson began, JB looked up from his book. ‘’Have you ever wanted to not do this anymore? To learn something you’re passionate about and go from there?’’

‘’I told you, the education system isn’t for me, I’m done with that path.’’ The older boy said, showing his annoyance in his tone.

‘’But why is it like that? You can study Photography and pursue that, you’ve got real talent!’’ Jackson tried, leaning forward to show his determination.

‘’I used to study Bussiness Management, my parents made me.’’ JB sighed. ‘’It was more for their own good than for mine, they wanted me to take over their business. I didn’t agree, quit after one semester and moved out of my parent’s home. But the job market is not really open for unschooled labour so here I am.’’ He explained, gesturing around him to show what he meant.

‘’What kind of business was it? Sounds like you were from a wealthy family.’’ Jackson tried.

‘’You know the Im family? The family that is allegedly involved in many crimes and murders which could never be proved? My last name is Im, they wanted me to be the new head of the family.’’ JB looked Jackson straight in the eyes to really bring home his words. He wanted to scare the younger boy out of asking more questions.

‘’But why Busi-‘’ Jackson began, he wasn’t going to give up so easily. His parents might be cruel, but the fact that JB ran away from them showed that he was different.

‘’Because you need to learn the rules before you can bend them!’’ JB’s annoyance started to change into anger. JB closed his book and grabbed his bag. ‘’Let’s go, it’s time anyway.’’  
Jackson decided to drop the subject for now, but he wasn’t going to give up.

* * *

 

After double-checking that they had the right apartment complex, they went up the stairs. The complex was nothing fancy, but not rundown either. You could just walk up the stairs to the floor you wanted to go without anyone looking at you twice. They looked around them to make sure there was no one around.

‘’Does this place have an alarm?’’ Jackson asked.

‘’I’m pretty sure it doesn’t.’’ JB simply answered.

‘’What do you mean ‘’I’m pretty sure’’?’’ Jackson responded, astonished. ‘’I can’t have a criminal record!’’

‘’Relax princess, you’re forgetting that you’re with a pro here.’’ JB reassured. This didn’t make Jackson feel any better but he trusted JB enough and they had come all this way anyway.  
Jackson stood on the lookout, while JB set to work on the window. As Jackson listened to the sounds of the window being pried open, he started to realise they were really doing this. As his train of thought went on, an older lady walked towards them. Jackson started to panic, gesturing to JB that they had to come up with a plan B really quickly.

‘’Just distract her!’’ JB snapped, having finally opened the window. Jackson walked up to the lady, thinking he’d just improvise.

‘’Hello! Nice evening isn’t it?’’ Jackson began, putting on a grin, trying to make sure his face didn’t show his nervousness.

The lady looked him up and down and said: ‘’You should be back home studying, not prancing around in tight clothing as if you are going to waste your life away on the streets.’’

‘’If only you knew that I’m here to do just that, lady.’’ Jackson thought. ‘’Do you need any help? Can I help you carry anything?’’ He ended up saying.

‘’No I don’t need any help, you could help me by going home and study. That way I’m sure that I won’t come across you anymore to steal my money.’’ She barked, walking up the stairs. When Jackson heard her enter her house, he took a deep breath. That was a close one.  
Meanwhile, JB had already entered the apartment, looking around for the laptops. Jackson stood by the window, watching him walk around the apartment. He stood there thinking, as he had nothing better to do, about how to address the issue of university again.

‘’You know, hyung, if you move out of your own apartment, you could stay with us. You could save the money you spend on rent and pay for tuition. And as soon as you’ve got a job, you can pay rent.’’ Jackson kept his voice low, he knew JB had to listen and that he couldn’t get angry. If he made too much noise, the neighbours could hear them.

‘’And what would your roommate think about having a felon stay at his house?’’ JB answered calmly, opening drawers and rummaging inside. Jackson gave this a moment’s thought.

‘’He’ll get used to it, and if you show you are really willing to better yourself, he might like it, too!’’ Jackson had to keep his excitement down, this wasn’t a straight up ‘’no’’!

‘’Why would the university take me in? I haven’t got any credits to my name.’’ JB appreciated Jackson’s attempts, but he had to be realistic.

‘’Just show them your photos in your notebook! When they see your talent, nothing else matters!’’ Jackson had something to go on, and he wasn’t letting go. JB smiled, it was really sweet to watch Jackson try so hard. And he had to be honest, it wasn’t such a bad deal.

‘’Does your silence mean that you agree?’’ Jackson wanted to hear him say it.

‘’Well I’m not opposing to the idea. We’ll see how it goes.’’ JB responded. Jackson’s excitement couldn’t be contained anymore. He jumped up and shouted ‘’YES!’’ not so silently. JB looked up from what he was doing, realising what just happened, and moved in twice the speed. Luckily he had searched most of the room already so a couple of drawers later, he had found the laptops and leaped towards the window. Above them, they could hear the lady opening her door again.

‘’You idiot! Can’t you keep quiet for five minutes!’’ JB hissed, climbing out of the window. Next moment, they heard a voice from the floor above them.

‘’You juvenile delinquents! Go study so you can achieve something in your lives!’’ The familiar voice screamed.

‘’Run.’’ JB grabbed Jackson’s hand and started running.

‘’Running and fleeing seems to be an everyday thing with him.’’ Jackson thought as he tried to keep up. Not only after they had put a decent amount of distance between them and the lady, did they stop running.

‘’Did you do it?’’ Jackson panted, putting his hands on his knees.

‘’What do you think?’’ JB grinned. He pulled out the laptops from his bag, Jackson felt the relief wash over him at the sight of them. As promised, Jackson took JB to the metrostation to get his notebook. JB was impressed by the measures the younger boy had taken to hide the notebook. But he was ultimately happy to have his notebook back, leafing through it to see that all the polaroids were still there. They started walking home, this time chatting and discussing how they could convince Mark of their plan. But after their successful heist, Jackson felt he could do anything.

Jackson turned the key in the lock, opening the door and letting the both of them in. Mark was sat on the couch, reading a book. Jackson felt his courage fall away at the thought of convincing him.

‘’You’re back.’’ Mark simply said, glancing at the both of them. ‘’Any success?’’ The lack of expectations clearly detectable in his voice. At this JB stepped forward, put the bag on the couch and pulled out the two laptops, a satisfied grin on his face. Mark’s eyes widened.

‘’You actually did it!’’ He exclaimed, taking out his laptop and turning it on, checking if all of his work was still on there.

‘’Of course, we had a whole plan and everything. You should’ve seen us in action! I distracted the neighbour while JB searched the apartment. We were a team!’’ Jackson started enthusiastically, making wild arm movements to show how stealthy they were.

‘’And then you nearly got us caught.’’ JB laughed. Mark chuckled as he could only imagine the whole scene.

‘’That lady had the ears of a bat, she could’ve heard anybody.’’ Jackson mumbled. He then remembered to talk to Mark about something.

‘’Mark, now that we have succeeded and you saw JB’s good side, I wanted to ask you something. JB said he wanted to attend university again. But to pay for tuition he’d have to move out. He can stay with us can’t he?’’ Jackson tugged at Mark’s arm, putting on a whiny voice like he was asking his mother for another cookie.

‘’Alright then.’’ Mark sighed.

‘’But he- Wait, did you just say ‘’Alright then.’’?’’ Jackson already had his counterargument ready, but this took him by surprise.

‘’Yes, when you asked me the first time if he could stay the night, I knew he’d be here for longer than just a night. It’s the same thing with that cat you brought home last semester. I think the landlady is onto us by now.’’ Mark reasoned.

At the mention of a cat, JB turned his neck around fast enough that he might’ve gotten a whiplash. ‘’You’ve got a cat?’’

‘’Yes but she sometimes isn’t home for days, maybe she’ll be here tomorrow.’’ Mark said. Jackson didn’t pay much attention as he was already setting things up for JB’s long term stay. After having made the bed and taken turns to use the shower, they called it a day.

* * *

 

JB woke up from his sleep because of two things: 1) He smelled breakfast being made in the kitchen. 2) There was an orange-coloured cat laying on top of him, spinning.

‘’This must be their cat.’’ JB thought as he proceeded to stroke her. He couldn’t help but starting to feel fond of the blonde boy. His mannerisms and quirks, the way he looked at people. It made JB want to become a better person. He was actually getting excited to start school with them and living with them. He felt he had a purpose again, a goal to work towards. JB got up and walked to the kitchen, standing in the doorway and watching Jackson cook. The fondness grew bigger and bigger in his chest, to the point where it took over his muscles and made them move.

‘’Hey, good that you’re up, we should go to the uni today to sign-‘’ But JB would have to hear the rest of that later, as he leaned forward, put his hands around Jackson’s waist and hugged him from behind.

‘’Whu-‘’ Jackson turned his head. JB took this opportunity to kiss Jackson on the mouth, and hold him as tightly as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they lived happily ever after~ 
> 
> I hope you liked my little story! It was so much fun to write.  
> Thank you for your kudos and comments!

**Author's Note:**

> K so this was heavily inspired by my friend's roommate who just waltzed into the house and startled us a little. My friend and I started talking about if her roommate ever did anything else unannounced, like bringing over guests, and how you would figure out who they were. And that's how we got to this subject.
> 
> If there's going to be a part two, it'll take me a while because I have to come up with a direction for the story to head to.


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